Bangladesh's US Trade Deal: Marginal Gains at Steep Geopolitical Cost

"Bangladesh's interim government has signed a sweeping trade agreement with the United States at the twilight of its tenure to secure a partial tariff relief, but the deal comes with significant geopolitical strings attached," reported The Daily Star on Wednesday.

"The Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, signed on February 9, goes far beyond standard tariff reductions. Instead, it creates a binding framework that integrates Bangladesh's defence, energy, trade and digital infrastructure into the US sphere of influence," it added.

The report pointed out certain clauses in the agreement that may upset Dhaka's current ties with Beijing, where China has lately been seen extending its footprints in Bangladesh since the fall of the Awami League government.

This includes trade, infrastructure development, and even military outreach, according to available reports.

Wednesday's report also pointed out that the US agreement mandates that Bangladesh "shall endeavour to increase purchases of US military equipment" while simultaneously limiting procurement from "certain countries".

It referred to the mention of "certain countries" as a "thinly veiled reference to Chinese suppliers".

According to The Daily Star, under Article 4.3 of the trade agreement, if Bangladesh enters into a free trade or preferential economic agreement with a "non-market country" - which it termed a "US regulatory term used for China and Russia" - Washington "can terminate the entire deal and reimpose punitive tariffs".

The US, said the report, has also committed to working with Bangladesh to "streamline and enhance defence trade".

It also quoted an expert, identified as Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), who viewed the agreement as "imposed unjustly" through "the total weaponisation of trade".

The report sought to know why the Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration had "to rush to sign an agreement that the elected government will have to implement", with general election slated for Thursday.

Claiming that Bangladesh must offer zero duty on a number of US items and slash duties on certain other goods over five and 10 years, beginning with a 50 per cent cut from the date the agreement comes into force, he stressed "significant revenue implications".

Another expert it spoke to, Selim Raihan, executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling, argued that the agreement is "heavily skewed", imposing a far longer list of obligations on Bangladesh than on the US, "which raises serious questions about whether the minimal tariff relief is truly worth the price".

The report further added that Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the state carrier, will purchase 14 Boeing aircraft, "steering the country's aviation sector away from European competitor Airbus".

Meanwhile, in the agricultural sector, Dhaka will import at least $3.5 billion worth of American farm products, including wheat and soyabean, it pointed out.

The US-Bangladesh joint statement mentions "recent and forthcoming commercial deals in the areas of agriculture, energy, and technology", including procurement of aircraft; purchases of approximately $3.5 billion of American agriculture products, including wheat, soy, cotton, and corn; purchases of energy products, with an estimated value of $15 billion over 15 years.

"By agreeing to these purchase quotas, Bangladesh is effectively streamlining the entry of US agricultural commodities, removing the procedural delays that previously hampered these imports," concluded the report.

- IANS